Adriens Axioms

My time in jail (7)

2010-12-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

My mom was scanned and searched like every other visitor and I got to see her for half an hour under the supervision of two guards and three cameras. There are seats for 9 inmates, each inmate can receive 4 adults and 2 children at a time. No one actually had 6 people coming to see them, but the room was still pretty full. It's just a regular room with a U-shaped 3-foot high wooden wall keeping the inmates and the family members separate (the inmates sitting inside the U-shape, the family members on the outside).

Seeing my mom made things a bit emotional for me and I was sorta relieved when the half hour was up. Afterwards every inmate is searched again to make sure nothing is smuggled in. They have this chance-generator box on the wall with a red and green light that tells you whether the guards just check your pockets or whether it's cavity search time. You have to push the button yourself and then hope the green light turns on. Thankfully, the guards didn't feel like doing a cavity search that day, since they gave me the option to either push the button and try my chances, or just go with the green light that was already burning from a lucky previous inmate.

Although the cavity search does not include fingers up the butthole as you'd sometimes read, you do have to strip fully naked, let the guards check your mouth and behind your testicles and squat three times. Naturally, I chose to go with the green light.

Next post will be the last one!

My time in jail (6)

2010-12-05T02:43:00.000-08:00

I spent a lot of time in the courtyard with 'Paul' (not his real name, he's the guy I met the first morning), playing tabletennis or just chatting. He was becoming quite a nuisance since I was there for my project and wanted to speak with other inmates as well. But everywhere I went, Paul followed me. I did manage to speak to a few guys (I tended to pick people who weren't very intimidating), subtly asking about their experiences in jail without making it sound like a regular student interview. Plus, I overheard a lot of conversations while pretending to listen to Paul, so I got a fairly good idea of how people experience prison.

The week went by faster that I thought it would have, even though the nights were long. I spent the second night looking out my window, observing the other wings. One guy in C-wing (aka Crazy-wing) kept turning his cell light on and off for hours. He would stop when the guards were on patrol and continued when they left. The screaming I mentioned in an earlier post wasn't tolerated by the guards, but they only patrol once every hour. They spent the rest of the nights in their sentry posts, behind soundproof safety glass watching movies they brought with them from home.

Days were filled with idling around, going to the gym, showering after going to the gym, working in the prison garden, reading in the library (the woman behind the counter told me autobiographies by famous criminals were most popular) and so on. The weirdest day for me was visiting day, when my mom came to visit me. Suddenly it felt like I was actually in jail, for real. And I got homesick.

Continued in my next post.

Work be damned

2010-12-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

Oh man, working on my project is incredibly time-consuming leaving me with almost no time for my blog. Thankfully, most of the work is behind me now. I'll try to wrap the prison-story up asap and get back to blogging about normal stuff.

In fact, I'll start typing out my next post right now. Should be up soon.

My time in jail (5)

2010-11-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

I was approached by a guy my age who noticed I was new in prison and straight up asked me what I was in for. I had been so busy processing all the new impressions that I had completely forgotten the background story I had drawn up for myself. Trying not to panic I told him the first thing that came to mind: "Shoplifting. You?"

He looked at me for a bit, then told me he had gotten into a drunken fight after a long night clubbing and was charged with assaulting a officer, although he didn't remember fighting with cops. Then he asked what I had really done since 'people don't go to jail for shoplifting'. I was frantically searching for an answer and felt like I had been caught doing something horrible. Trying to make it sound like I wásn't making it up as I went, I thought back to a newspaper article about cybercrime and told him 'shoplifting' was also a term used for hacking into banking networks and attempting to steal credit card information. Feeling proud at my sudden stroke of brilliance I couldn't suppress a faint smile. He apparently accepted my answer and we chatted for a bit. How long we'd be in for, girlfriends, family, jobs, all the basics passed by. I got the impression this guy hadn't been getting along with the other inmates and liked talking to me.

The work-master told me what I had to do at the workplace which was quite easy (just roll up door mats and put them in plastic). He was friendly enough, but clearly not someone you'd mess with. The guards and other employees in general seemed fairly jovial, not giving the inmates grief if they weren't asking for it. Heck, some of the inmates even cook for the guards, that's how friendly some of them are with each other.

Continued in my next post.

My time in jail (4)

2010-11-08T03:03:00.000-08:00

The next day was work-day. Once every 2 days you have to work in the shop doing menial things like cutting door mats to size or folding boxes together. You have to work for 3 hours and you get paid 5 bucks per week for it.You can spend that money on stuff like phone cards, luxury food, or a pair of slippers for the shower if you didn't bring any (slippers cost 5,95).

After eating breakfast in my cell I would finally meet my fellow inmates of B-wing. I was kinda nervous about leaving my cell when the door opened, but the inmates weren't as bad as I had expected. A and B wing are separated by glass walls and a sentry post in the hallway. When I came out of my cell I got a few surprised stares from the other side of the glass since they thought A-wing was empty, but most inmates were too focused on themselves to notice me.

When I joined them I kept to myself a bit, joining the back of the line, observing what they would do as we were guided across the courtyard towards the workshop. The inmates were mostly young males, with an over-representation of certain populations. Some were very loud and seemed to feel quite at home in prison, some were just absentmindedly going through their daily rhythm and some seemed intimidated and wanting to go home.

I recognized one guy whose mugshot had been in the papers. I was quite surreal to see someone I'd only read about standing just a few feet from me. He was chatting with someone walking beside him and didn't seem like the criminal I imagined him to be.

Continued in next post.

My time in jail (3)

2010-11-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

I spent the rest of the first night in my cell listening to the other inmates. I thought about watching TV for a bit, but figured I might as well have been doing that at home, that's not what I'm here for. The layout of the prison is as follows: there is a central courtyard with a small soccer field and basketball field with a corridor (known as 'cold hall' since there is no heating there) running down the middle surrounded by four buildings. One general purpose building (with a gym, the dentist, the doctor, a small church/prayer room, general visitation room, private rooms for consultation with lawyers, counselor rooms and so on), and three cell blocks. Each of the three buildings has two wings (making 6 wings in total).

I was in the empty A wing, sharing the building with B wing. A and B are reserved for small time crooks. People who can't pay their fines, repeat offenders at things like shoplifting or joyriding, small time pyromaniacs, stuff like that. The next building houses C and D wing. Here you'll find the mentally unstable, people who are too violent to receive treatment for their mental issues. Pedophiles are also put here. These two wings are kept strictly separate from E and F wing. This is where the murderers and rapists are put. The rules of separation are so strict that a C or D-inmate cannot enter the general purpose building for medical attention if E or F inmates are in the gym for instance, even if it's urgent.

Anyway, I spent most nights listening to B-inmates talk to each other through the windows or hearing C and D-inmates scream incoherent nonsense. The screaming of the insane was quite scary to be honest. Sometimes you'd hear someone repeating stuff they see on TV as loud as they can, other times you'd hear someone relive some terrible trauma (one guy from Kosovo kept screaming like he was back on the battlefield). Most of the time however it was unintelligible, people would be howling at the full moon or be making deep, primal grunts.

Continued in my next post.

My time in jail (2)

2010-11-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

After some of the comments on my previous posts I feel I need to explain that the prison I went to isn't anything like the things you see in movies. Everything is strictly regulated with the wellbeing of inmates in mind and the showers are in a sort of bathroom with two stalls with lockable doors. So soap-grabbing isn't a problem.

Dinner time came at 4:30, again unlike the movies where you have to shield the grub they feed you from other inmates to prevent them from stealing it, food is brought to your cell where you eat by yourself. The food mostly consisted of potatoes with some meat and veggies. Wasn't great, wasn't terrible either. If you like you can ask to prepare your own food. The kitchen where inmates can cook has all the basic stuff: refrigerator, freezer, induction cooking plate, a large knife (fixed to the wall with a short chain). You can buy certain foods from the 'shop' and make a pretty decent meal this way. All under strict supervision of course.

The cell is no place you'd want to spend a lot of time in, although at first I found it to be pretty luxurious for a jail cell. It's about 7x4 foot big, it has a bed, a small TV, a toilet with mirror, a small refrigerator, a microwave oven and a window looking out into the courtyard. You might be able to imagine how such a cell would appear to get smaller and smaller as you spend more time in it. The worst part however was the door. It's a heavy solid door with fire-proof insulation consisting of a sort of rubber band on the edges of the door that expands when it's heated up. This means that the door will be impossible to open should a fire break out. I was literally told that if a fire breaks out in my cell they wouldn't be able to do anything for me. I'd either have to try to put the fire out myself with my clothes and bedsheets or burn to death. There would be no way of opening that door until the fire has gone out and the door has cooled down again. This was mulling around in my head and cost me quite a few hours of sleep at nights.

Continued in next post.

My time in jail (1)

2010-11-06T13:54:00.001-07:00

Even though I wasn't a real criminal the guards still had to make sure I wasn't smuggling anything inside. So standard procedure for intake was followed. I came in voluntarily so I didn't have a police escort. I did get to see the inside of the transport bus later on and I was glad I got to skip that part. The bus is filled with claustrophobia-inducing tiny cubicles with heavy locked doors.

Entering the prison you first have to get past the metal detector beep-free after which you are led into the 'dirty waiting room' (it's not actually dirty). Once the guards have time for you they lead you to the shower where you have to fully strip and take a shower. There is a list of stuff you're allowed to bring in (3 items of each piece of clothing, 15 photos and so). Anything else is stored away. An account is opened where your money is stored if you brought any. If you didn't bring anything (because the police lifted you out of your bed for instance) you are supplied with the basic necessities.

After the shower you go to the 'clean waiting room'. People obviously spent a lot of time in those waiting rooms considering all the stuff written on the walls. Most wall-text consisted of peoples names, or the places they are from. The word HATRED was also common. To my surprise I didn't find a single swastika though.

Finally, about an hour later, I was taken to Biometrics where my height, weight and fingerprints were recorded. Afterwards I was taken directly to my cell since the inmates of F wing were outside (the hardest criminals in the prison).

Continued in my next post.

Back from Jail

2010-11-06T03:56:00.000-07:00

Hello all, I've been gone for a little while. Where was I? Prison.

Don't worry, I was there voluntarily. In light of my masters project on criminology I sent a formal request to the local prison to be allowed to spend a week inside their walls. To my surprise, I received permission about a month ago (my university and the prison have a pretty good reciprocal relationship, but things like this aren't done often). Coincidentally, they had been renovating one of the 6 wings. Renovation was now complete but the wing wouldn't be occupied with new prisoners until January at the earliest so they had room to accept my request.

I was told I would be put in the empty A wing at nights, but I would join the inmates of B wing during daily activities. After signing my way through a small forest of permission slips and waivers clearing the warden and the government and everybody else of any responsibility for my safety the day of my internment finally arrived. I was promised I would be treated like every other inmate and to that end only security personnel (the guards) were made aware of the reason for my presence. Other employees like the workshop master, the garden master, the kitchen crew, and so on thought I was just another guy with more bills than he could afford and who opted to do some jail time instead.

BTW: I liked the format of my Parachuting-posts, keeping the posts short and succinct for easy reading and typing and I will be doing the same here. So look forward to my experiences from day 1 in my next post!

Parachuting! (last part)

2010-10-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

The wind was rushing past my ears with such intensity that I couldn't hear myself screaming. I was sure I was, but my voice was lost in the void I was falling in to. The chute deployed and yanked me up a bit. For a brief moment, I felt like I was suspended mid air, perfectly still. After this moment of awe, the checklist I had to work down came to mind.

"CHECKING FOR SHAPE, FLOAT, NO SPIN", I heard myself screaming. That checked out, but when I looked up at the parachute I noticed the lines were all tangled up! I grabbed onto each line and pushed outward as hard as I could, just as we had trained. This caused the lines to un-twirl but sent me spinning around my axis. I spun around so fast that the lines were now getting tangled up again in the opposite direction. I tried pulling the lines apart with even more vigor which stopped me from spinning and straightened the lines. I could now finish the checklist and entered the figure-8 holding pattern.

At this point I had to look down to orient myself and pick a spot for me to land. Slightly hesitant, I turned my gaze downward to see my feet bungling in nothingness. Looking beyond them, I saw the airstrip and the seemingly tiny fenced-in area I was supposed to target. Despite what I had learned from the movies ("whatever you do, don't look down"), looking down wasn't that bad. In fact, I enjoyed it. Looking around, I could see for incredible distances, with the horizon revealing the curvature of our planet.

Read on after the jump

We had been trained to exit the holding pattern at 1000 feet, having been shown pictures of when that would be but I found my memory of them to be of little use in mid-air. So, attempting to guess the altitude, I exited the holding pattern. "No, wait, I'm nowhere near a 1000 feet yet", I thought and went back to making figure eights. After second guessing myself 3 or 4 times I finally decided I was low enough to begin preparing for the landing.

I found the parachute to be surprisingly responsive to my maneuverings and managed to find the proper approach easily. Slowly, the ground came closer and closer to my feet. Just before touching down I badly misjudged the distance left, hitting the ground with my toes, flipping forward and falling flat on my face, sending my friends into fits of laughter.

Having been calm and focused the entire way down, the adrenaline really started gushing through my veins once I had my feet back on solid ground. I was picking sand from my teeth the rest of the day, but I couldn't stop smiling. We all agreed it was beyond awesome.

If you ever get the chance to go parachuting, do it! I HIGHLY recommend it!

Parachuting! (part 2)

2010-10-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

While we were climbing to our jump altitude I had stuff to occupy my mind with. During take-off I was focused on the final check we had to do at 1000 feet. After that I concerned myself with remembering the jump procedure. So when the little red light turned green I was caught off guard a little. Suddenly I realized I wasn't simply trying to pass an exam of some sort, but that I was actually about to jump out of a perfectly fine airplane.

The first two jumped out and I scooted towards to open hatch. The plane had to double back to the dropzone first and made a sharp turn to do so. As it was banking, the open hatch shifted downwards until I was looking straight down at the ground. This was when it hit me how high up 3000 feet actually was. Adrenaline started pumping like crazy and I couldn't suppress a huge grin. There was no doubt in my mind this was gonna be the most awesome thing I had ever done.

The plane leveled out, I threw my legs out and sat on the edge. When the instructor gave me the sign I stopped thinking and just let go. For half a second I was plummeting towards to the ground in free fall. I was facing up and saw the plane shrink with incredible speed. The feeling of being unsupported by anything is one I'll never forget.

During training we were extensively warned about this exact moment in time. We were told the situation would be so alien to our brains that we could pass out. To prevent this we had to scream every step of the canopy deployment and control test aloud, at the top of our lungs so our brains would be occupied and hold on to something familiar.

Typing this out is taking quite some time, so I'll take a break here and try to finish it tomorrow.

Parachuting!

2010-10-10T04:36:00.000-07:00

The day finally arrived. We were gonna go parachuting around noon. For two days we had been training for it and it was the training that had my quite worried. You see, static-line parachuting is fairly straightforward: you jump out of the plane when the instructor tells you, the chute auto-deploys, you perform a number of simple checks and then try to land softly, keeping your knees slightly bent and facing the direction of the wind.

The vast majority of the training is therefore devoted to all the things that could possibly go wrong and how to respond. All the horror scenarios I hadn't yet thought off beforehand were drilled into my head. From the chute deploying inside the plane to landing on the roof of a building and everything in between.

Naturally, the night before the jump I dreamt of a chute that didn't deploy and when it did, had its lines tangled. I didn't get much sleep. There was one final exam we had to pass. After that, we had to wait for another group to jump and for the plane to refuel. That hour was gruesome. Heart pounding in my throat, solid iron in my legs kinda gruesome.

The plane was ready, three of us first-timers were gonna go up with experienced skydivers. We would jump out at 3000 feet and they would climb to 10 000 feet to do free fall acrobatics. I'll never forget the moment the little red light turned green signalling our arrival at 3000 feet. This was it. The hatch opened and I would be the last of us to jump out. The first two made it look easy. Just sit in the opening, look over the wing and let go. When it was my turn, all emotion disappeared and I focused on the checklists I had to do.

The instructor was screaming stuff, but I couldn't hear her over the wind so I just nodded 'yes'. Then I heard 'go'. And I jumped.

Wait for my next post to hear how it turned out, gotta run now.

Extremely cold winter on its way

2010-10-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Just read a startling bit of news. Polish forecasters have calculated that there is a 70 % chance that the coming winter will be the coldest we have seen in the last 1000 years.

They say the Gulf Stream is to blame, because its speed has been reduced by 50 % in the last few years. A leading specialist at the Fobos weather center, told Russia Times that the Gulf Stream will be unable to compensate for the arctics winds which will dip us in freezing weather.

The article focuses on Russia and Europe, but a slowing Gulf Stream would have the same effect on North America.

Europe's last winter was pretty extreme already, with three full months of snow and icy roads here. Right now it is abnormally warm. I've been outside all day in a t-shirt. Normally I'd be wearing my winter coat around this time of year.

Quick update

2010-10-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to say I've been busy with something very cool. A group of us got together and are going parachute jumping! (I've been talking their heads off about how awesome it seems).

We have a few lessons for two nights before we get to do a solo 'static-line' jump. I've just come back from the fist lesson and it's awesome. Mostly theory so far, but we got to see the plane in the hanger. Can't wait to jump out of that thing day after tomorrow.

Anyone have any experiences sky diving?

About those Axioms

2010-10-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

I realize that the title of my blog is 'Adriens Axioms' and yet I haven't yet posted any actual axioms (aren't alliterations awesome?) Unfortunately, I don't really know what axioms are. So here's one my favorite poems instead:

Out of the night covers me,

black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever Gods may be

for my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

my head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

looms but the horror of the shade.

And yet the menace of the years

finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

how charged with punishments the scroll;

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

It was written by William Ernest Henley in 1875 when he was in a hospital bed after having his foot amputated because of tuberculosis. It is about remaining strong despite incredible adversity. I find the poem to be very inspiring. You may know it from the movie Invictus with Morgan Freeman about Nelson Mandela, who read this poem during his imprisonment on Robben Island.

I have traveled to Robben Island a few years ago. Seeing where Mandela ate, where he slept and where he worked for over 27 years of imprisonment was very impressive.

Here is a clip from the movie where Freeman recites the poem as Matt Damon visits the island:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FozhZHuAcCs

Aliens!

2010-10-03T02:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I met someone who was really into aliens. I've been thinking about some of the things he said. He started by talking about the newly discovered planet Gliese 581g, which seems capable of supporting life. I'd read about this and told him that I didn't believe there to be any life. It's much bigger than earth and orbits very closely around it's star, meaning its atmosphere must be super dense and its soil must be sterile from all the radiation.

He remarked that the bigger implication was this: because we found this planet so close to us (20 light years away) and so early on in our search it must mean there are billions of similar planets capable of supporting life. And this must mean intelligent aliens exist somewhere. He then said he believed we made contact already and the governments of the world are conditioning the public to be ready for the announcement. Last week, the UN appointed an ambassador for alien contact, a Vatican astronomer told the press he would love to baptize an alien and former US military personal held a press conference -apparently broadcast live by CNN- where they informed us aliens had been watching our nuclear stockpile.

I asked him what was holding the governments back from just telling us and he envisioned worldwide riots, plummeting stock markets and mass panic if they announced alien contact now. I disagreed, I believe that we as a species are mature enough to deal with such info and would probably return to our normal daily routine minutes after such an announcement.

Where do you stand? Do you believe aliens exist and are visiting us? Do you believe people would panic if Obama reveals that he's been talking to little green men?

Gameday

2010-10-02T04:20:00.000-07:00

Today is gameday. I had joined a soccer team here in the city and today is our fourth game of the season. So far we've lost one and won two. Our opponent is still unbeaten and is currently number two in the ranking while we are ranked #6.

This will be my first game since the ankle injury over a week ago. The swelling and discoloration has gone down a lot and I'm able to walk without a limp again and even managed a light jog yesterday. I'm not under the impression I'll be able to play for the full 90 minutes, but I'm hoping to play at least one half to see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

Update: We won! 4-0. Ankle held up pretty well.

Public transport can be dangerous

2010-10-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Scary experience on the bus today. The bus had just left the station and was nearly full when a couple of us sitting in the front noticed that it was getting pretty warm pretty fast. Because the sun was shining and I was sitting behind glass I thought nothing of it, until I started smelling burnt rubber. Everything happened pretty fast after that.

Smoke began coming out of the side of the bus upon which the bus driver immediately pulled over beside the highway. One of the front wheels was on fire! We were told to evacuate the bus (obviously) and I was surprised at how calm everyone was. There were a couple of elderly people on the bus and a woman with a baby carriage was sitting next to the back door. People just calmly helped them off the bus and acted like the bus had just arrived at its final stop, no pushing or anything.

Once everyone got out, the bus driver managed to get the fire under control quickly with a fire extinguisher. Turns out the brake was stuck on that particular wheel causing it to overheat while driving and setting fire to the surrounding material. Thankfully no one was harmed and nobody panicked, I shudder to think what might have happened then.

Best TV Music Ever

2010-09-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

I used to be a big fan of Lost. And it still makes me sad when I realize it ended. Here is a piece of music that I listen to daily, it's from the Lost series finale:

This is the best music I have ever heard on TV. It's so emotional and I think anyone who's gone through a tough time will love it.

It is an outrage that Michael Giacchino did not win the Emmy for best music this year. Instead, it went to the bland and generic music of 24, for the third time.

Auwiauwiauwi

2010-09-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

Sprained my ankle. Hurts like something that hurts real bad. Anyone know if it's supposed to be this blue?

Privacy vs. Security

2010-09-29T03:26:00.000-07:00

Here are two interesting bits of news I stumbled upon: the first is that the US is now trying to get permission to wiretap the internet. Basically, they want to force developers of any software that allows communication to allow them to listen in if they want to. They even want a back door into encrypted messages:

WASHINGTON - Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations of the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is "going dark" as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone.
Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications -- including encrypted e-mail transmitters such as BlackBerry, social networking websites such as Facebook and software that allows direct "peer-to-peer" messaging such as Skype -- to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.

Source

This sounds like the stuff Orwell had nightmares about, right? But wait till you read this:

A terror plot to launch murderous Mumbai-style attacks in UK cities has been disrupted by the security services.
Intelligence sources revealed that militants based in Pakistan, thought to be linked to al Qaeda, were planning simultaneous strikes on London and other European cities.
The attacks would have been similar to the commando-style raids carried out in Mumbai in 2008 which killed 166 innocent people, MI5 sources said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315992/Mumbai-style-terror-attacks-planned-UK-France-Germany-uncovered.html#ixzz10ucNqv41

When Bejamin Franklin wrote "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety", he couldn't foresee the destructive power a small group could have in our present. So, I support the Obama administration in doing everything they can to prevent such attacks from taking place.

Where do you stand? Would you have a problem with the US checking all your communication?

Day One (2)

2010-09-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Incidentally, the title of my previous post reminded me of this -never to air- show from NBC:

Kinda similar to The Event I guess. Looked cool enough, but NBC decided not to pick it up.

Day One

2010-09-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

I just moved to the big city and as a typical born-and-raised country boy I'm quite excited. There are so many people here! I'm hoping to meet lots of interesting cityfolk and I will relate my experiences on this blog right here.

First thing I noticed today is that you're not supposed to say hi to random strangers. Back home, where everyone knows everyone, you're weird if you don't say hi, but here you'll get stink eye for it. When getting on the bus, the driver tolerated a 'hi', but the girl sitting in the middle just looked at me in confusion.

Anyway, going to settle in now and keep my eyes and ears open for things to post.